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Counterinsurgency (COIN, NATO spelling Counter-insurgency^[1]) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces".^[2] The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the activities of guerrillas or revolutionaries"^[3] and can be considered war by a state against a non-state adversary.^[4] Insurgency and counterinsurgency campaigns have been waged since ancient history. However, modern thinking on counterinsurgency was developed during decolonization.^[4]

During insurgency and counterinsurgency, the distinction between civilians and combatants is often blurred.^[5] Counterinsurgency may involve attempting to win the hearts and minds of populations supporting the insurgency.^[6]^[7] Alternatively, it may be waged in an attempt to intimidate^[4]^[8] or eliminate civilian populations suspected of loyalty to the insurgency through indiscriminate violence.^[4]^[9]

^ NATO Standardization Agency (NSA), AAP-6 (2006) - NATO Glossary of Terms and Definitions, 2006
^ Paul B. Rich, Isabelle Duyvesteyn (eds.) The Routledge Handbook of Insurgency and Counterinsurgency, Routledge, 2012 isbn 9781136477652 p.68.
^ 'counterinsurgency' Oxford English Dictionary Online
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Sheldon, Rose Mary (2020). "Introduction". Small Wars & Insurgencies. 31 (5): 931–955. doi:10.1080/09592318.2020.1764713.
^ Levine, Daniel H. (2010). "Care and Counterinsurgency". Journal of Military Ethics. 9 (2): 139–159. doi:10.1080/15027570.2010.491331. hdl:1903/15979. S2CID 145276606.
^ Berman, Eli; Shapiro, Jacob N.; Felter, Joseph H. (2011). "Can Hearts and Minds Be Bought? The Economics of Counterinsurgency in Iraq". Journal of Political Economy. 119 (4): 766–819. doi:10.1086/661983. S2CID 4838763.
^ Dixon, Paul (2009). "'Hearts and Minds'? British Counter-Insurgency from Malaya to Iraq". Journal of Strategic Studies. 32 (3): 353–381. doi:10.1080/01402390902928172.
^ Worrall, James; Hightower, Victoria Penziner (2021). "Methods in the madness? Exploring the logics of torture in Syrian counterinsurgency practices". British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. 49 (3): 418–432. doi:10.1080/13530194.2021.1916154.
^ Downes, Alexander B. (2007). "Draining the Sea by Filling the Graves: Investigating the Effectiveness of Indiscriminate Violence as a Counterinsurgency Strategy". Civil Wars. 9 (4): 420–444. doi:10.1080/13698240701699631. S2CID 144793055.